The mission of Zion Lutheran is to better know and show Christ’s love.

Our mission statement flows out of Jesus’ words recorded in John 13 from the night of his betrayal. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).

The church would not exist if not for God’s love. It was God’s love for the world that caused Him to send his only begotten Son into the world that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. The Christian congregation is a gathering of the people who have come to know the love of Christ and this motivates our action. St. Paul wrote: “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Corinthians 5:14).

For us to share the message of God’s love effectively, it is a story that we need to know ourselves. For many, their first contact with Christ’s love was in the waters of Baptism where God’s love was poured out on us and we were made a part of God’s family. Through baptism we became a part of a Christian community. Our congregation has a strong tradition of Christian education which is devoted to the purpose of helping baptized children better know Christ’s love.

Christ’s love is central to our life together. As a congregation we gather to worship in celebration of God’s love for us. We gather at Christ’s table in remembrance of the crowning act of His love when He laid down his life for His friends.

The message of Christ’s love is one that we are committed to better knowing. The truth of Christ’s love is so simple that a child can grasp it, yet it is one that day by day we can further explore. St. Paul prayed for the Ephesians, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-18). As students of God’s Word in our schools, Bible classes or personal study we grow in our knowledge of Christ’s love.

But love is not just a concept to learn. Love is to be shown. St. John wrote: “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18). Love seeks the opportunity to practically show Christian care and concern. As a Christian congregation we look for ways to day by day show the love of Christ to someone else so that they can better know him.